Ook The Owl Lands Hedwig Role, Sorcerer's Stone to Lens at Leavesden

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By Brian Linder

Ook the white owl will play Hedwig in Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone. (Photo courtesy of the UK's Sunday Mail)

On Sunday, the very first locked-in cast member for Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone was announced.¿ Since this announcement we've been working feverishly to bring you the first Internet photos of this new and wonderful casting choice! Without further ado, we present to you: ¿Hedwig!

Meet Ook the white owl. Ook will portray Hedwig in Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, and possibly future film installments of the Potter saga.

For those unfamiliar with the Potter-verse, the "wizard world" doesn't use the postal service.¿ Mail is always delivered via "owl post." It's traditional for many wizards to have their own letter-carrying owl. Hedwig is the somewhat temperamental little owl that belongs to Harry.

Ook, the 16-year-old (wonder how old that is in "owl years") white owl, belongs to Roger Pearson of Britain's Natural History Lecture Service.¿ Yes the owl is British, making Ook one of the least controversial choices for the film so far.¿ Ook fits¿author J.K. Rowling's description of Hedwig perfectly. The only discrepancy being that Ook is male, while Hedwig is female.¿ However, with white owls there isn't any obvious difference in markings between the male and female, so gender isn't a continuity issue.

British schoolchildren may already be familiar with Ook, as Roger Pearson tours British schools with him when giving natural history lectures.¿ Pearson told the Sunday Mail, "He is perfect for the part.¿ He works in schools a great deal and has done since he was six weeks old so he is aware of children of all ages."

In related Potter news, we can confirm a report in the Sunday Mail that Potter producers are getting set to shoot the film at famed Leavesden Studios, where Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was lensed.¿ Pending some very important casting decisions, production is set to begin in September.¿ Potter will most likely be the last film to shoot at the studios as they're rumored to be slated for demolition.